"A Part of America Died"

"[Timothy] Thomas [age 19] is one of 15 blacks killed by police in various parts of the city since 1995, four since November. Three officers, two black and one white, have been killed since December 1997."

• "Cincinnati Neighborhood in Turmoil", New York Times, 4/15/01

Source: Cincinnati Police Division, Associated Press, as reported in the New York Times, Saturday, April 14, 2001, "Deadly Encounters in Cincinnati."

Of the15 blacks killed by police in Cincinnati since 1995:

• 10 (67%) (perhaps 11) had a gun;
• 1 threatened police officers with a knife;
• 1 threatened police with a board studded with nails;
• 1 ran down and killed a police officer with his car (the police officer managed to shoot the murderer before the officer died);
• at least 3 either killed or wounded a police officer before being neutralized by police.
• 11 attempted murder or aggravated assault which triggered the police reaction.

Upon deeper examination, 11 of the 15 deaths were clearly justified. Of the remaining 4, 1 was extensively probed by the Justice Department and no charges were filed. It is unlikely the case would have been dropped unless evidence of police wrong-doing was weak or nonexistant. Therefore, the media should stop reporting "15 black men killed by police" which although literally true is grossly misleading. Instead, they should report that 3 black men were killed by police officers under what MIGHT have been questionable circumstances. This is much less dramatic, and therefor the most likely reason the media avoid reporting the more complete truth. By the way, the number of questionable black deaths at the hands of police since 1995 is the same as the number of police officers killed in the line of duty since 1997 - 2 black and 1 white - and only 1% of the number of blacks - 300 - killed since 1995 by other blacks.

Died at age 40, September 1, 2000

On September 1, 2000, Police Officer Kevin Crayon found a young male black (later identified as a 12 year old) getting in to drive a car …Officer Crayon ordered him to stop. Instead, the youth backed the car toward some children and their mother in the parking lot. Officer Crayon ran to and reached into the car, apparently to stop its progress rearward motion. He was successful, but the youth pulled forward and onto Colerain Avenue with the officer in tow. While being dragged, after traveling and accelerating some 800 feet, Officer Crayon shot the youth and was released from the car. His momentum carried him to the undercarrage of a car stopped in traffic. The impact killed him instantly. The youth struck another car and continued onto his home where his family called for EMS response. The youth died of his wound a few hours later. Officer Crayon, a United States Army veteran, left his mother, Barbara Crayon Allbright, three children, Kevin II, Christopher, and Brittany, and three brothers and a sister.

2 Recent Police Officers Slain: Police Specialist Ronald Jeter, age 34, December 6, 1997, Police Officer Daniel Pope, age 35, December 6, 1997

Just before midnight, on December 5, 1997, Specialist Ron Jeter and Officer Dan Pope searched for and found Alonzo Davenport, a 19 year old black male wanted for a felony Domestic Violence, at 23 West Hollister, a few blocks north of where the last slain Cincinnati officer, Cliff George, was killed ten years earlier. Davenport had concealed in the small of his back a revolver. While the officers were inside the residence, Davenport pulled the revolver and shot each officer once in the head, killing both instantly. He ran from the scene, saw other officers at Vine and McMillan Streets, and shot himself in the head, killing himself. Specialist Jeter, a former United States Marine, left a mother, fiancée, and children. Officer Pope left his father, a retired police officer, mother, and wife, Linda, a Cincinnati Fire Fighter.

White backlash in riot-torn Cincinnati
By Philip Delves Broughton in Cincinnati

ANXIETY among the non-black residents of Cincinnati turned to anger at the weekend over the violence that has torn the city apart in the past week.

Many were furious with the city's mayor, Charlie Luken, and Ohio's Governor, Bob Taft, for attending the funeral on Saturday of Timothy Thomas, the 19-year-old black man killed by police as he tried to evade arrest. His death provoked a week of rioting and curfews.

But many are infuriated by the failure of the mayor and governor to stand up for the city's police while appearing to appease black leaders. The chief of police, Tom Streichr, said he was grateful for the support of the "silent masses of Cincinnati" who had not joined in the often harsh criticism of the police. The charming old buildings that make up central Cincinnati and its black ghettoes have drawn young professionals back from the suburbs in recent years. However, their homes were targets for violence during last week's rioting.

Ben Stauss, a middle-aged businessman from the suburbs said: "The black community wants better respect from police, but what are they doing to better themselves? I am disturbed that I have not heard once from the black community about how they are going to improve themselves. Since 1995 the police have killed 15 black people, most justified. Meanwhile, 300 blacks have been killed by other blacks. Where is the outcry over this problem?"

Linda Pope whose policeman husband, Daniel, and another officer, Ron Jeter, were shot dead in 1997, said: "This 19-year-old has become a martyr and a hero. Where were the riots when Dan and Ron were murdered?" Even many blacks criticised their own leaders for swooping in to make grand speeches about social justice, while failing to build up schools and businesses during less traumatic times.